Miguel Ángel Estrella

Born in San Miguel de Tucamán, Argentina on July 4, 1980, Miguel Ángel Estrella was a classical pianist of Lebanese and Amerindian descent. He learned the piano at the age of 12 and entered the Conservatorio Nacional of Buenos Aires at 18. He then worked as a teacher in poor neighborhoods before obtaining a scholarship in 1964 to study the piano in London, England, and Paris, France. Trained by Nadia Boulanger, Marguerite Long, and Yvonne Loriod, he returned to his native country with a solid background as a musician. Back in Argentina, he released the album Piano: Bach / Mozart (1975). His humanitarian beliefs led him to stand up for the poor and humble. The Argentinean military junta forced Miguel Ángel Estrella into exile in 1976. Arrested in 1977 after fleeing Argentina, he was detained for four years in Montevideo, Uruguay, where he was tortured. The pianist became the symbol of liberty for all artists and intellectuals in Latin America and was publicly supported by his former teacher Nadia Boulanger, violinist Yehudi Menuhin, composer Henri Dutilleux, and many others. In 1979, the French label Erato published the album Miguel Ángel Estrella ou la Musique en Prison, which contained recordings dating from 1971. Freed from prison in 1980, Miguel Ángel Estrella found political asylum in France where he began performing again. In 1982, he founded the Musique Espérance (a non-government organization recognized by UNESCO in 1992), whose objective was to defend the rights of musicians. In 1981, French singer/songwriter Michel Berger was inspired by Miguel Ángel Estrella’s story and wrote the classic "Diego libre dans sa tête", while Daniel Balavoine dedicated his song "Frappe avec ta tête" (1983) to him. Miguel Ángel Estrella released a series of acclaimed albums including Handel - Brahms (1982), Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 3 pour piano (1984), Mozart - Liszt (1991), and Recital para la Memoria: Evocaciones (2009). From 2003 to 2015, Miguel Ángel Estrella served as Goodwill Ambassador to UNESCO and a member of the jury of the Russell Tribunal on Palestine (2009). He received honors from the Argentine Senate (2013) and the Danielle-Mitterrand Prize from the Fondation France Libertés (2014). In 2020, he was appointed director of the Maison de l'Argentine at the Cité international Universitaire de Paris. Miguel Ángel Estrella died on April 7, 2022, at the age of 81.